More than 12% of the reproductive population worldwide has had difficulties in conceiving and a majority of the women affected of infertility are between the ages of 15 and 44. Infertility is the most common medical disorder among women in these ages. The couples might be helped by an assisted reproductive technique, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF).
IVF is a process by which egg cells are fertilized by sperm in vitro outside the womb. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed. The process typically involves hormonally controlling the ovulatory process, removing ova from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilize them in a fluid or culture medium to form zygotes that are matured into embryos. A formed embryo is then transferred to the patient's uterus with the intent to establish a successful pregnancy.
Although the pregnancy rate, i.e. the success rate for pregnancy following IVF, has increased a lot the last few years clinical studies report an average pregnancy rate of up to 70% in industrial countries, possible after several trials. A lot of research has been invested in the field of trying to increase this pregnancy rate even further. The research has up until now suggested several different hormone substances that are thought to increase the pregnancy rate, for instance by improving embryo implantation rates and decreasing miscarriage rates.
Another technique has been presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,649,344. The patent document discloses an assay for a predictive marker to indicate the presence of non-fertilizable ova capable of in vitro maturation (IVM) and subsequent IVF in a mammal. The assay is based on determining the presence and relative concentration of Inhibin A or Estradiol in a blood sample at various times during the menstrual cycle.
There is still a need for a technique that allows identification of those patients that have good or poor chances for successful pregnancy and in particular for couples undergoing IVF and a technique to improve the chances of successful pregnancy.